Boris Johnson has unveiled the next lifting of lockdown measures but the details have been overshadowed by the continuing furore surrounding his most senior adviser’s breach of lockdown rules. Dominic Cummings claimed “exceptional circumstances” means he behaved “responsibly and legally” and therefore did not breach the rules he helped set, in an extraordinary press conference […]
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Ministers have rallied to support the prime minister’s chief advisor Dominic Cummings as “devastating new claims” emerge about a further breach of the lockdown rules. Boris Johnson’s special advisor (SPAD) has been under fire since news broke last night that Cummings drove 264 miles from London to his parents’ Durham property with his wife and […]
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Doctors have backed teachers in the escalating row with the government over the early reopening of schools in England. The Children’s Commissioner has also weighed in behind the government and called on all sides to “stop squabbling and agree a plan” following yesterday’s (Friday) talks between teachers’ unions and government about plans to reopen schools […]
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Consumer spending in the United Kingdom contracted by over a third last month as a result of retail shops shutting to reduce the impact of the coronavirus on their businesses. Data from Barclaycard—Britain’s largest credit and debit card provider—showed that consumer spending in April plunged by as much as 36.5% as compared with the same […]
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The prime minister has published the government’s plans to ease lockdown restrictions in England, before addressing MPs in parliament to try and clarify the confusion caused. Boris Johnson set out three phases for the forthcoming months and said it was “very good advice for the entire population of the UK”. The leaders of Scotland, Wales […]
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Boris Johnson has unveiled the first steps out of the coronavirus lockdown with a new slogan that had already been rejected by the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK’s ‘stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’ slogan will still be the key message everywhere across the nation, except in England, […]
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The government has pledged £76m to fund measures to support domestic abuse survivors, children and rough sleepers during the coronavirus crisis. The package includes money to provide safe spaces and fund helplines for “the hidden thousands for whom the current lockdown has been nothing short of an inescapable nightmare,” said the justice secretary Robert Buckland, […]
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A few short weeks into coronavirus restrictions, people are getting restless. Apart from the devastating economic effect of the lockdown, its impact on mental health, victims of domestic abuse, and people suffering from non-COVID19 illnesses have been devastating. Already, authorities in many European countries have begun easing restrictions, and in the UK, too, experts are […]
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Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned social distancing measures put in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic could extend into 2021. Sturgeon said a return to “the normal life that people knew” was “not on the cards in the near future” during the Scottish government’s daily press briefing in Edinburgh. The first minister published […]
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Deputising prime minister Dominic Raab confirmed the UK’s lockdown will continue for “at least” three more weeks, as a poll was published showing 91% of the public support the government’s decision. Raab said “there was light at the end of the tunnel” but repeated that relaxing the lockdown now, would undo the efforts taken, saying […]
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